Tale of Ether
by Tonyrocks345
Summary: A orphan who has been tested on constantly due to her body being made of Ether, Kumie finds herself in a new place far from her home, Taikoku City. Now she is in the Kingdom of Fiore trying to fend for herself in a world where her unique body can become an easy target. At the very least along the way, she will find a new place to call home. Wherever home might be that is.
1. AA - Chapter 1: Reawaken

**Hey everyone, how are you all? Don't mind me, just doing a small OC story idea I had. I had this very fun RP group that has been dead for mostly a year now with no idea if it will be kickstarted or be done in a new form.**

**However! I thought it would be perfect to use the setting of that RP and characters made from it as a basis for an OC story set in FT. Whenever or not you like it or not is entirely up to you, but I hope you enjoy the Fanfic nonetheless.**

**I would appreciate feedback on first chapter or so, in any case lets get on with the story!**

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**Tale of Ether**

**Awakening Arc**

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**Chapter 1**

**Reawaken**

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"_Dad…? What happened to…" A little girl asks staring at a table in the middle of a room too dark to make out any notable features from it. The only source f light was pointed right atop the table where the body of a young woman laid her eyes closed._

"_It's alright sweetie, it's alright…Mommy is just sleeping right now, in a very… Deep sleep is all." A rather older adult male states trying to reassure his daughter kneeling hand on the girl's shoulder._

"_Will… She wake up?" The girl questioned looking to her dad for advice who just stared somberly back with a frown._

"_No… No, she will not sweetie." The man stated before closing in to hug his daughter as tightly as a bear would. The little girl tried to process it as she looked at the table for a second before hugging her dad back softly tears coming from her eyes yet showed no emotion._

"_Why… Why won't she wake up dad?" The girl questioned just as a few men in lab coats came in one holding a clipboard observing it just as a nurse came in after the men just standing there._

_The father of the child looked up narrowing his eyes but focused on his conversation with his daughter. "Something happened to your mother sweetie. The doctors did their best to help her, but they just can't… You are a big girl though, you understand what I am trying to say, right?"_

_The child was silent, she was just 12 years old… But the current world she and her father lived in made it impossible to avoid the knowledge of what her father meant. She still lacked any form of emotion, aside from the tears that is, but that was a guise her body always put up. She had emotions, feelings, thoughts of such. Yet, her body showed no such emotions. She simply gave a nod to answer her father in the end as the one with the clipboard intervened respectfully._

"_We… Are ready to perform the tests Kira. Will you allow us to have your daughter for a bit?" The man questioned the girl's father, now named Kira. At first there was silence as Kira hugged her daughter tightly before pulling away with a nod then turning back to his daughter._

"_The doctors are going to do a check up on your sweetie. They want to make sure you are fine, I need you to be a strong girl okay?" Kira assured his daughter while also making her understand what is going on. The nurse from before moved over and kneeled slowly to offer their hand to the girl._

'_No… Don't let go.' A silent voice is heard as the little girl stepped away from Kira and then eyed the nurse. 'Don't grab that hand!' The girl stared at the offered hand then slowly nods to the inaudible words coming from the nurse before taking the offered hand. The doctors step away from the light one staying behind to talk to Kira who was crying as the little girl was dragged away out of the room, the little girl stared at her father not knowing what would transpire in the years after she left the room completely._

_Test, after test, after test. No matter how many were done the results always came back the same, she wasn't human but that was common in Taikoku City. Humans were not exactly normal in the city, they were a rare minority to the amount of people in this one confined place. Sadly, the little girl became the even rarer minority, she was special, beyond special. It wasn't her skin, which has always been pale, she always had white hair, and she always had red blood eyes. In a place where special people are the majority, she was even rarer, rarer in the fact that her body and what she was made up, could potentially be used for endless energy._

'_Stop.'_

_That desire for endless energy drew in more tests, more experiments, more isolation for the young girl but with no way of harnessing that energy the experiments eventually went away, then Kira passed away shortly after. The little girl spent much of her high school life being tested on; too weak to do anything physical, she was forced to focus on knowledge and education. All that time being tested on, and none of it was focused on being with her father or having the freedom to choose._

'_Stop!'_

_Cast away once a goal was reached, forced to fend for herself in a world trapped within a wall. A wall that does nothing but prevent the outside world from killing everyone in Taikoku. Too bad that wall didn't prevent-_

"STOP IT!" Shouted the girl who opened her eyes with a hasty pant as she laid on the wet cold ground surrounded by broken glass and the loud sound of an alarm going off. She calmed herself down, the now 20-year-old girl looked around with her eyes trying to get her bearings ignoring the loud sound blaring in her ears. Her white hair dripped from she hopefully assumed was water but didn't count on it.

The girl tried to move but her body was too weak as she carefully weaved her hand up to her face avoiding the glass and saw blue lines coating the skin of her arm. Calling them lines is wrong, they were her veins working overtime to transfer the energy within her across her body so she can function again. Her body was weird like that, it had a high amount of energy but once it gets used up bodily functions turn off. Not to the point of killing her, at least no yet. So long as she still had her heart intact, she will be fine, in fact the lack of energy will make her have even more to use once she is back to full strength.

For now, though, she couldn't stay like this, but at the same time knowing how her own body works the most, she wouldn't have the ability to move for a little bit longer. Since she is stuck on the ground like this, she decided to figure out more on where she is, her eyes trailing to the areas above her right now moving her head carefully to get her bearings.

It was to no surprise, another lab, a small one but still a lab. Baring the possibility that the facility was larger than it seems currently, the lab itself was rather complex but also seemed outdated. There were ancient runes and symbols that she somewhat recognized but were unreadable to her… No, that isn't quite true, after a bit the letters were translated to the point, she could read them. Was it a runic language? It had to be if it translated for her.

"Etherano of subject K cannot be read… Subject has left containment, unable to perform further tests…" Kumie softly said to herself as she read the words then softly sighed. "Etherano… Maybe its just another name for Ether. Considering they are measuring it, I guess they have a good understanding of Ether... Which would be weird, I'm in…" She stopped herself and narrowed her eyes remembering the key detail she needed to realize.

Taikoku… Was gone, so it didn't make sense why she was here or why Ether was something of note in this lab. She should be dead! Yet, she wasn't, whether that is a blessing, or a curse was something to be seen in her eyes. She closed her hand and opened it testing it then noticed the blue lines on her arm starting to slowly fade in and out making her smile. "Still function like normal… Although it seems like you are recovering faster than normal Kumie…" She said to herself.

Kumie used her hands to slowly get up her eyes trailing down noticing that she was in some sort of white garb that covered her up. It was the only thing she had on, for now at the very least, she will fix that when she gets the chance. She gets onto her knees carefully then stretches her arms carefully before drying out her hair a bit then took in her surroundings more.

"Yeah… I can sense a lot of Ether here for some reason… I'm not in Taikoku that's for sure, for the energy of life it wasn't that present in that city…" She muses to herself, she could feel the ether in her body starting to increase the functions in her body and slowly gave back her ability to move. That is what her body was made up, Ether the source of all life, at least that's what the texts in some books she read stated. It was honestly the only clue she had as to figuring out why her body was made of the stuff, it's still a question she asks to this day.

She narrowed her eyes and slowly got up to her feet wobbling a bit as it felt like she hasn't used her legs in forever but eventually got her balance again. "Good…" She eyed her arms and saw the blues lines had disappeared before she looked up again and was a bit shocked.

In front of her was a broken containment unit with the glass completely broken on one side and water leaking out from the same side. She had zero recollection of every being in the said containment unit, yet it would seem like she was… She didn't understand why but then clued it in based on the screen behind her making her sigh.

"Great… Another group of guys wanting infinite energy… Wonder if they were successful." She wondered to herself as she continued to squeeze her hand close and then opens it to repeat the exercise. "So many questions… But I don't got time to be standing around here, I got out of that thing somehow, and I doubt they will let me waltz out of here." She slowly moved to the table where the screen that had her vitals on it and began to fiddle with the various consoles seeing if there was a map of the facility anywhere.

She was lucky in finding a map, but unlucky that she appeared to be in a tower of some kind, a tower that was 6 stories tall and she was on the 5th floor. She took a mental note of the tower's layout: 5th was Containment Floor, 6th was the Roof and Lookout Floor which meant there was security here, 4th was the Staff Floor, 3rd was the Archives, 2nd was for Research, and 1st was the Lobby and Core Floor which she didn't dare question what that was. Either way there was a stair system which was the important part, she would have to traverse each floor and down each set of stairs in order to get out of here.

With the map memorized she began to type away into the console to see what research data they had on her but all she found was results on Etherano levels and what that Etherano was being used for. It seems her Ether was being used up to the max to power the Core on the 1st Floor... Okay that's enough snooping around for her!

She looked down for a second checking her body for any injuries, even if she has a body made of Ether, she can still get injured, so it was essential to make note of what she can and can't do. No injuries luckily enough, she used the darkness of a nearby window to check the garb she was wearing and breathed in a bit closing her eyes as she lets the Ether in her body flow outward. A light blue light covers her exposed arms and thighs briefly before darkening with a black color to make a set of clothing to cover herself up with for now. She even got herself a pair of boots, so she doesn't get her feet hurt with all the glass around.

She goes to the door and opens it seeing the alarm blaring out in the hallway too making her get annoyed as she was about to step out and paused looking back at the containment unit wondering if it was just her trapped here. She frowned for a moment, whenever or not it had real emotion behind it was still unknown to even herself, but she couldn't delay any longer. So, she took her first steps outside of the lab, and into the new world she found herself in.

* * *

The Containment Floor was rather loud but empty of any people, no one was running around screaming, or trying to figure out what was going on. It surprised Kumie as she walked down the stairs already reaching the 4th Floor, she couldn't go upstairs as much as she wanted to… If it was a Lookout Floor, then she would be just running right into the people she was trying to get away from.

She quickly stopped hearing footsteps moving around in the 4th Floor making her slide back onto the steps to use the railing as cover. "Subjects K through B have been compromised! We need to secure the facility and make sure they don't get out!" She heard people shouting, judging from things, she can't help but assume that the other "subjects" were not as kind as her judging from the urgency in the man's voice. That and, no one was on the darn floor to begin with when she escaped.

Still she couldn't stay on the stairs like this, instead of peeking her head out to survey the status of the floor She focused her Ether into her hand and light blue dots forms before forming into the shape of small light blue colored beetles, beetles that act as scouts and relay anything they see back to her She sends out the beetles who fly around using the lightning of the facility as cover before stationing themselves into various corners and locations on the floor getting a feel of what is going on.

There were various scientists running around holding various pieces of paper in their hands. She saw… Security forces running around? They looked more like old-fashioned knights really which was a sharp contrast to the tech in here. But she didn't question it much, at the very least she isn't dealing with Fenrir Soldiers, they would take out people in a hard beat… Plus they had pretty good armor suits.

The constant running around and panic by the staff was making her concerned though, she wouldn't be able to get through the floor without being spotted. She couldn't change her appearance on the fly either… What to do…

Then there was a growl making the security forces perk up and run off away from the scientists who freeze up and gather around into some form of room with a lock on it. She only knew of the lock cause one of her beetles got locked in forcing her to dismiss the beetle. "At least it didn't take too much Ether to create the little guys..."

It was the one fear she had, she was using her own source of energy to move to perform these actions, but luckily it felt like the capacity she has in terms of Ether is larger than it was back in Taikoku. It gave her quite the advantage, especially when her creation's Ether returns to her once they are dismissed… At least within reason or exceptions.

As for the growl, which kind of made her sweat a bit, not because she was afraid of monsters oh no, it was because of the fact it reminded her of a certain monster she had to fight back in Taikoku. Before someone asks, yes there are monsters in Taikoku.

There was a sudden crash as a security member was crushed under the large foot covered in green scales with the grow growing stronger within the dust cloud that formed. The other security members held their spears with a few people behind the spearmen… Creating magic circles. Now it wasn't the first time she saw magic, but magic circles were not part of any magic she has seen up to now.

"Cold Magic: Cold Breeze!" A breeze of cold air and snow particles is fires into the dust cloud, which made sense if the scales were any indicators. But there was a sudden roar as a rock was chucked at one of the spearmen forcing the guy back into the floor. The dust cloud was pushed away from the force of the throw revealing a giant green humanoid lizard roaring at the security before charging them as it is pelted with "Snow Magic" as the security forces called.

Either way, this was her chance. She quickly got out of the area where the stairs were and began to run off down the hallway toward the next set of stairs to the 3rd Floor using the security forces as a form of distraction.

One of the spearmen focused on stabbing their polearm into the side of the Lizard and quickly tried to cast magic but was swatted away by the back of the Human Lizard's hand then focused some form of energy within itself. "Lizard Magic: Bellow Breath!" The Lizard fired a green colored breath of fire at mages who were burned and were forced to run due to the toxic fire. The Lizard growled looking at its side then pulled out the spear in his side and allowed her body to regenerate the damage that was dealt as the rest of the security forces were now fearful.

"Oh, come on! You lock us up like that and you can't even put up a fight once we rebel?! Hmph, for the people that turned me into this goddam freak you sure… Are…" The Lizard spoke but trailed off at the end before sniffing the air. "Its that scent from before… Subject K is running around now?"

"Subject K?!" One of the guards shouted as Kumie was forced to stop at the stairs before getting spotted by the Lizard which in turn made the security team focus in on her.

_Since when could lizards known the difference between scents?! How did he know my scent anyways to begin with?! _Kumie shouted in her mind as it didn't make much sense to her as she looked back at the crowd on the floor with a small sweat before the Lizard grinned at her. _Nope! Not staying here!_

Kumie didn't waste time dismissing her beetles and quickly running down the stairs making the Lizard shocked. "H-Hey! Subject K get back here!" The Lizard growled as the girl was already gone then glared at the security forces. "I'll deal with you idiots later!" The Lizard shouted before quickly rushing past the guards to follow the girl.

The security forces just stood there shaking in their boots looking at each other and just agreed to stay there and find someplace to hide just in case.

"SUBJECT K!" The security forces heard and sweat before running off into a room to lock and hide behind.

Right below that floor Kumie was running through the archives noticing the various shelves of files and books but she didn't have time to stop and read any of them sadly! She had a giant lizard behind her, and she wasn't stopping to chat with him either!

"Sorry Lizard, but I do not have time to be someone's dinner!" Kumie shouted back but stopped suddenly as she felt something coming, and it wasn't the Lizard. Where? She couldn't tell as she looked around quickly just as the Lizard caught up to her making her freeze and sweat before turning around.

The Lizard glared at Kumie menacingly, ignoring height (Cause Kumie is actually only around 5'4.) the glare the Lizard had could make anyone freeze up. The Lizard huffed and puffed before calming down shaking his head. "I'm not trying to eat you! I'm trying to get us out of this place!"

There was silence as Kumie only asked: "What?"

"I was… Trying… To get us… Out of here!" The Lizard huffed out slowly for Kumie to register getting a kick from Kumie into his scaly leg, which somehow hurt. "OW! What was that for?! That actually hurt!" The Lizard screamed holding his shin.

"That's for leaving me on the floor like that if you were the one that got me out of my containment!" Kumie stated back before stepping back to clam down breathing in and out. "So… Where are we?"

Lizard pouts with teary eyes waiting for something from Kumie, who just stared back at the Lizard with her red eyes. "What?"

"Apologize!" He demanded.

Kumie's eye twitched before sighing again. "Fine, I'm sorry for kicking you… Now do you mind explaining things for me?"

The Lizard nodded then looked around the floor seeing no one around. "Guess they all hightailed it upstairs so we should be fine for a bit." The Lizard moved over to one of the shelves and began to search them for a second and then pulled out a map and sprawled it out on the floor for her to see.

She was, surprised to say the least as the tower was marked on a country… That didn't or shouldn't exist. The Kingdom of Fiore was the name of the country with the Tower marked near a city known as Magnolia with a symbol on it for some reason. The Lizard points to the tower.

"It seems, we are in the Kingdom of Fiore which is my home… Hey we are near Magnolia which is even better! A Mage's Guild is there if that symbol is any indicator!" The Lizard stated.

"A… Mage's Guild?" Kumie questioned as she eyed the map then narrowed her eyes a bit.

"Yeah… You know, a place where powerful mages go to do missions and all that jazz!" Lizard stated with a smile but there was just dead silence as the Lizard sweats. "W-Wait you don't know?!"

"No, I don't know, do you know?" Kumie stated simply seeing Lizard somehow get wounded.

"Y-Yes I do know! I am part of a Guild myself, Lamia Scale to be precise!" He points to a symbol with a Lamia on it., Kumie assumes it's a Lamia due to the name.

"Oh cool, cause I'm not." Kumie simply comments making the Lizard feel even worse. "Either way… I'm… Far away from home to say the least… But if there is help, we can get nearby that's good right?"

"Yep! That guild in Magnolia is notorious! It shouldn't be hard finding help from them!" Lizard stated then rolled up the map. "Either way! My name is Sanit, I use Take-Over Magic, and you are?"

Kumie hesitated for a second thinking about it crossing her arms. "Kumie… Take-Over Magic?" She quickly questioned.

Sanit tilted her his then facepalmed. "Don't tell me you don't know anything about magic either!"

Kumie shook her head. "No, I know what magic is… Just not well versed in the various types I suppose?" She lied, but it wasn't a total lie.

Sanit stared at Kumie and points at her. "I can't tell if you are lying or not, but do you know any magic?"

"Nope." Kumie stated turning toward the stairs that would lead down to the next floor stretching her arms.

"What? Why are you here then?!" Sanit shouted in a question but Kumie held her hand out silencing him for a moment. "W-What? If you plan to kick me ag-"

"No… We have company." Kumie noted simply narrowing her eyes as a blue haired girl walked up gingerly from the steps with a smile making Sanit scream in what sounded like horror.

"T-Tear?! Why are you here?!" Sanit questioned as the slightly taller but clearly young girl now named Tear grinned pointing at Sanit.

"Aww… Lizzy you can't be breaking out of your cage like that! We have important work to do you know right?!" The girl told Sanit. Tear herself had blue eyes to go with her hair with a blue and white blouse and skirt under the lab coat she had on her with a symbol on the side of it, was she part of a guild too? Kumie couldn't tell at all as Tear looked at her then was shocked.

"S-Subject K?! Why are you out of your containment! That is no good! You have to stay in there to power the Core!" Tear stated with a pout crossing her arms. "No good at all you two! I bet you colluded with each other on this!"

Sanit sweats. "Huh?! You keep her knocked out in that containment Tear! How can I collude with her?!"

Tear freezes up and then turns around to write down something. "Subject B2 is showing signs of intelligence after becoming one with his Take-Over Magic! We need to study more of thi-" Tear stopped and quickly sides steps to avoid something light blue fly by her. "E-Eh?" She eyed what was on the front in front of her, only to find a light blue colored sword embedded into the ground.

Kumie glares at Tear not a single part of her body moved surprising Sanit as her perked up. "H-Hey! Kumie! How did you create that sword without a spell?!"

Kumie rose an eyebrow at Sanit, "I can control the Ether in my body in whatever way I want." She stated then eyed the sword making it dismiss instantly the particles flowing back into her body making Tear distracted in awe.

"A-Amazing! Subject K's ability to use Ether is extraordinary! Primitive, but still extraordinary!" Tear stated aloud writing down more notes into her notebook unphased by the sudden sword before pause and then closing the notebook with a smile.

Kumie just stared at the strange girl for a moment closing and opening her hand to test to see how well things were with her body before relaxing herself. "You only care about your research huh?"

"Yep, Yep! I must perform results to show to the others after all! Oh… I can't wait to tell the others about these developments!" Tear smiled before glaring at Kumie and Sanit. "However, what would not be good, is if I let you two escape from this facility."

Sanit sweats and slowly got up putting the map safely away into his clothes then focused on Tear. "Kumie we can't fight her. We need to focus on escaping."

Kumie eyed Sanit. "Huh? But you looked pretty strong back there."

Sanit sweats as she was right. "Yeah, but Tear is another story. In fact, she was the one that kidnapped me and brought me here. She is a powerful mage… An considering your lack of magic…"

Tear grinned a bit. "Oh, you want to run Sanit? Oh, too bad… Liquid Magic: Tar Pit!" Tear points to the stairs and a black liquid substance began to fill the floor below surprising Sanit. To make matters worse, it was liquid tar, so getting through it would be impossible.

"Did you really have to do that?! What if you had… Oh right they are all upstairs." Sanit was shocked but then quickly dejected as their escape was lost to them. "We are doomed!"

Kumie was silent staring at Tear trying to register what kind of magic that was., Sanit said he had Take-Over magic, the guards from before had Cold Magic, oh right! Sanit also had that Lizard Magic thing.

"Hey Sanit, how many types of magics do people usually have?" Kumie questioned not registering the threat quite yet clearly.

"You are asking me this now?!" Sanit questioned making Tear laugh.

"How naïve Subject K is, oh well as a fellow girl wanting knowledge, I can at least inform you instead of dumb Lizzy there!" Tear stated making Sanit just sit on the floor crying, Kumie just pats Sanit's back softly. "I'll only say it once: Mages usually are only able to learn one type of magic! Rarely do they learn more than one, after all quality is better than quantity."

Kumie stared at Tear for a moment then smiled crossing her arms. "Oh, so you are saying your Liquid Magic is all you got?"

Tear blinked a bit tilting her head thinking. "Yes…" She grins happily. "But not like it matters! My magic, Liquid Magic, just as the name suggests allows me to use any form of liquid to my advantage!" There was a giggle from Kumie a bit making Tear blink in confusion.

"Thank you for the information Tear. Now I know how your magic works! I appreciate the information!" Kumie stated with a smile.

Tear just blinks again then glared. "H-Hey! That's cheating! No tricking Tear! Subject K needs to learn a lesson! Liquid Magic: Spiral Helix!" A magic circle appears in front of Tear before two sprouts of high-powered liquid is fired in a spiral motion like a helix toward Sanit and Kumie.

"W-Why did you have to make her an-GRY?!" Sanit was suddenly pushed out of the way by a light blue colored wolf that came from Kumie's arm getting him out of the way of the attack. "W-Where did the darn dog come from?!"

As for Kumie herself she altered her boots to add wings to make her jump quickly out of the way and then lands on top of one of the shelves seeing the liquid hit the wall behind her before turning her attention back to Tear. "What was that about teaching me a lesson?" She questioned Tear as the Ether Wolf, Kumie at least calls it that, growled at the researcher.

Tear's eyes were focused on the wolf and at the alterations Kumie made smiling. "Interesting~. Your manipulation of your own Etherano is quite advanced compared to just using magic."

Kumie's eyes narrow. "Its not Etherano, its Ether." She simply stated to Tear not up for the fun Tear is having.

Tear pouts again. "Such a meanie! Liquid Magic: Melt!" Tear focused on the shelf Kumie is standing on and it begins to turn into a liquid making Kumie hop up into the air quickly. "Liquid Magic: Acid Rain!" As Kumie was in the air Tear quickly cast her next spell that created a magic circle above Kumie and rains down acid on her from above.

Kumie was only able to slide out of the way barely her arm getting acid on it feeling it get burned before she quickly used her Ether to remove the remaining acid on her arm as she lands back on the ground. She took a moment to examine the damage on her arm before focusing back on Tear. "Acid now huh?

Tear grins a bit. "Big bullies deserve to be punished!" The proud girl stated as Kumie's eyes shifted to the side.

"Oh, really now? I'm pretty sure kidnapping people is considered bullying." Kumie taunts Tear but didn't really put too much emotion into it. Which for Tear, pissed her off a bit.

"Why you! Let's see how you handle another dose of it! Liquid Ma-" Tear was about to cast another spell before sudden her arm gets bitten by Kumie's Ether Wolf. "OW! Bad doggy get off!" Tear yelled punching the Ether Wolf, but it wouldn't let go.

With Tear focused on the Ether Wolf Kumie quickly puts her hand at her side creating a ball of Ether in her hand then grinned. "Hey Tear, you should know better than to boss around another person's pets!"

Tear got angry again flailing about. "Shut up K! I'm too busy with this dog right no-"

"Lizard Magic!"

Tear blinked a bit then looked to her right just as the Ether Wolf lets go. Sanit was coming around with his clawed arm that was expanding out and growing in strength. "Crushing Slam!" He was preparing to swing it down on Tear who was smacked aside against a few of the bookshelves. "That's for calling me Lizzy!"

Kumie observed Sanit for a moment, something was wrong a bit, not that the attack going through was wrong, but something was growing around Sanit suddenly. It concerned her but then she heard Tear's voice.

"Now, now Lizzy." Tear stated brushing herself off as she got herself out of the rubble. "I think you had enough fun and games… Why don't you make yourself useful and help me round up K over there?" Tear questioned as a magic circle was encasing her left wrist with a grin.

Kumie noticed it right away, some form of energy pricking itself into Sanit's body before he screamed out and held his head. "Sanit!" Kumie shouted but knew her words wouldn't reach or help Sanit, she had to cut off the link of whatever is pricking Sanit's body.

"M-My b-body! I-I can't…!" Sanit suddenly launched himself at Kumie his empowered claw still strong as ever. "K-Kumie dodge!" He shouted as Kumie stood there for a moment thinking then jumps forward under Sanit surprising him and Tear. "That works too!" Sanit shouts as he crashes into the floor and slowly gets back up.

Kumie then closes her hand and swing her hand sending out small waves of Ether toward Sanit who turns and is shocked. "W-Wait! K-Kumie I'm sorry-!" Sanit closed his eyes hearing something get cut before nothing happened. There was silence as Sanit opened his left eye looking around then blinked jumping up and glaring at Kumie. "H-Hey what is the big idea?!- Wait…" Sanit patted himself up and down. "I can move again!" Sanit cheered.

Tear was shocked. "What?! But how?!"

Kumie looked to Tear. "I can sense the Ether you are using for your spells, your spell, it injected your power over Liquids into Sanit so that his blood can be within your range of control. Controlling his blood essentially gives you control over him."

Tear stared at Kumie for a moment then thought to herself for a moment before sighing seemingly becoming bored. "Darn, and I thought we were going to have one of those comic book moments. Where two allies must fight each other in order to stop the villain."

Kumie's eye twitched a bit. "Why did you reference a comic book all of a sudden, second thing you just called yourself the villain."

Tear was shocked and in sudden despair. "I-I did?!" She felt her world shatter as she spun around before shaking her head. "Whatever! I don't care anymore!" Tear huffed and points to the ground. "Liquid Magic: Fantasia!"

Kumie's eye rose a bit confused before noticing geysers of water sprouting around her, it was easy to tell it was water from the look of them but was wondering what the purpose of this spell was. It was then that she noticed that the geysers formed a perfect wall around her and formed a dome before sprouts of high-power water jettisoned out from the "walls" of the spell striking her into the geysers making her take even more damage.

Tear grins as she hops up and sits on top of an unscathed bookshelf. "Oh dear, oh my. K is having a swimmingly well time in my lovely Fantasia. You can't leave or run from this spell!" Tear said confidently as Kumie is knocked around within the spell.

"Kumie!" Sanit shouted then glared at Tear rushing at the mage. "Your little brat! Lizard Magic:-"

Tear held out a hand toward Sanit. "Liquid Magic: Artic Catastrophe!" A magic circle appears in front of the hand and a series of water blasts hit Sanit pushing him back. He crashes into a wall in the tower creating a dent as his body falls limp on the floor shivering due to the cold temperatures the water was in. "Too bad Lizzy, your body can't handle the cold at all! That is what happens I suppose when we make you become stuck in your curse of a magic!" Tear giggled out having fun with toying with the lizard who growled but was unable to move due to the cold.

Kumie was still stuck in the jets of water getting knocked back by a jet into the wall which makes her bounced forward again and get hit by another jet. She quickly tried to come up with a plan to escape this prison as Tear sat back gingerly then thought for a moment observing Sanit who was a shivering mess. Kumie gets hit by another jet forcing her down to the ground with a hard thud. She quickly puts her hand down focuses her Ether and creates a shield around herself moving outward to form a safe dome with the jets of water just splashing into the shield not able to crack or push through.

"Oh K… That pesky little shield isn't going to protect you forever!" Tear says to Kumie as the shield continued to shield Kumie as she relaxed and devised a plan.

"_Liquid Magic, liquid is still liquid… Would it vaporize? No, it probably isn't that easy…"_ She turned to focus on the spell that was hitting her itself. _"Its focused on me, so no matter where I go it will follow me… She believes I can't do anything from in here too…"_ Kumie thought to herself looking up at the jets of water. _"Either way… I'm stuck in here unless I do something about this spell… If that's the case… Hey, Wolf ready for an upgrade?"_

Tear sat there for several minutes just observing Kumie, the shield wasn't coming down still which surprised her despite the high-pressure output of the jets of water. But she was confident the shield will fall eventually. With Lizzy out of the picture there was no need to do anything else but wait while also regaining any energy she lost. "Only a matter of time K!"

There was just silence which made Tear yawn a bit who rubbed her eye for a second then felt something quickly jump on her the moment she let her guard down. She looked behind herself to see a giant werewolf made of Ether coming at her, she didn't have time to dodge! The claws of the Ether Werewolf slash into Tear's side and push her against the ground as the Werewolf focuses on Tear who was slowly getting up.

"Where did you come from? She is stuck in there…" Tear trailed off and pouts. "Darn it doggy! Why do you got to interfere all of the time?!" Tear began to prepare another spell, but the Werewolf wasn't letting up as it charged Tear who jumped on top of another shelf then directs her hand creating a magic circle toward the Werewolf. "Liquid Magic: Spiral Helix!"

The spell from before was cast sending out a double helix jet of water moving in a spiral knocking the werewolf back as it defends itself being pushed back and back before just stopping outright as it is hit with the high-power water but not moving one bit.

"Huh? Why did you stop getting pushed back?" Tear questioned just as the Werewolf howls.

"Thanks Wolf!" Kumie stated from within the shield bubble and places a hand on the shield closing her eyes. "Her water is always a certain consistency and frequency when it comes to power. I just got to refine my Ether to that point… And!" Her body glows as from the shield bubble, a series of solid balls made of ether fire out at a fast speed pushing through the jets of water and explode within the jets of water breaking up the flow of the spell.

Shortly after the explosions the water from Fantasia begins to crystalize into a form of ice stopping the Fantasia Spell completely as Kumie becomes walled in by ice instead of water now. "I-Impossible! The water turned into ice?! How?!" Tear questioned but she heard another howl as the Werewolf charges through the jets of water from Tear's spell to slash and strike at her yet again this time sending her flying into the shelves.

Tear slowly gets up from the wreckage just as Kumie flies out of the wall of ice standing next to her werewolf observing Tear silently. "Had enough yet Tear?"

Tear glared at Kumie with a huff. "Stupid… K… You think leaving here will give you any freedom? You think you can just escape from us?!"

Kumie eyes the Werewolf who runs off to help Sanit get warmed up as Kumie's eyes focus back on Tear. "You act like I wanted to be locked up in here, trapped in a containment unit, and forced to be part of whatever experiments you want to do." She slowly points up above her. "I rather be out there than trapped in a tube dreaming all day about the past."

There was a moment of silence from both Tear and Kumie before it was Tear who sighed first looking down at the floor then up at Kumie. "I really hate people like you. Talking all high and mighty… When people should know where their place in a world! If you are weak you should be used in a way that benefits everyone!"

Kumie looked down looking at her hand then looked up staring at Tear. "That isn't the world I live in, nor am I some weak kid Tear, neither is Sanit who has a guild out there who probably misses him." Tear was ticked off by this then huffed out.

"I really don't care for any of that. After all, we aren't an official guild. We are a Dark Guild. Those rules or ideals don't apply to us." Tear stated with a shake of her head. "None of your preaching will do you any good… "Kid" fits you quite well in that regard."

Tear quickly puts her hand out. "Liquid Spell: Cocytus of the Deep!"

Sanit's eyes open hearing that then stared. "T-Tear what are you doing?! You are going to kill her!"

Kumie eyed Sanit questionably then noticed the air growing cold and then quickly having to jump out of the way as a giant scythe ripped through the floor with a ripple before a giant reaper-like figure appeared water flowing from its body… No that wasn't water. "Poison?!"

Tear grinned at Kumie. "Meet Cocytus, the reaper of the deep ocean, careful of his poisonous water. Though at this point, I don't care if I break you a bit, I just need to make sure you can produce Etherano after all~."

There was silence from Kumie as she felt the poisonous water burn against her skin as the water filled up the room closing her eyes as she transforms her Werewolf into a shield around Sanit. "H-Hey! Kumie what are you doing?! You can't be out there like that!"

Kumie was silent then stretches her arms acting carefree a bit as she lifts one leg and then the other out of the water. She felt slow in the water but that was fine… She wasn't truly fine, her legs burned with whatever poison was running through that water. Plus, the Cocytus itself was still around. This was a problem, a big problem.

Tear smiled. "If you surrender now, I'll be sure to make your punishment a light one K!"

Kumie observed Tear for a moment thinking about something in the back of her mind. _"You are the strongest person I know._" She isn't that strong. _"You defeated number 2, Good job." _No, he- _"Not one to give up are ya?" _No… She isn't really. _"I wonder why that is… Breaking yourself in the process, just to save all those people. I envy your strength Kumie."_

Kumie smiled a bit. "… Yeah, I envy our friendship too… Vaughn…" She said softly to herself then eyed Cocytus focusing on the task at hand. "So, is that all you got Tear?!"

Tear rose an eyebrow. "You act like you can beat Cocytus." She shrugged a bit then simply smiled. "Though I am tired of the games!" She then focused on Kumie. "Liquid Magic: Cocytus's Crew!" From around Kumie in poison filled waters humanoid figures and creatures began to rise from the water but not taking a solid form as Kumie looked left and then right. "This is the end K!" The creatures charge the majority launching into the air while the rest following the water toward Kumie.

A couple of balls of ether appear in Kumie's hands sending one up above her and then throwing the other into the water. The one in the air shines and fires out pellets of ether everywhere that striking the creatures in the air their forms disappearing on contact, the other created a wave the push the water out from around Kumie forcing the crew members in the water away. Tear hopped up to another shelve to avoid the incoming wave.

"Liquid Magic: Aqueous Slicer!" Tear shouted as scythe blades made of the water surrounding Kumie still shoot up and quickly begin to run toward Kumie who dodge out of the way but felt several of the blades slash into her body.

"Gah!" She makes sure not to fall into the water keeping her legs up as her Ether works to close the wounds. _"Should I use it? No… If I use it, I won't be able to survive the trip afterwards. I can do this." _Kumie stared at Tear then reaches out her hands creating two swords surprising Tear before she was displeased with the action overall.

"Hmph… Still fighting?!" Tear huffed then eyed Cocytus. "Cocytus! She is all yours! Leave her alive!" The aquatic reaper moved to the left making the water splash upward before launching itself toward Kumie! "You will lose K! You only have two puny swords! Cocytus rends anything in half! You are finished!"

Cocytus prepared to slash with its Scythe as it closes in on Kumie but as it is about to Kumie launched at Cocytus surprising it and Tear. "Kumie are you crazy?! You have a death wish!" Sanit shout but Kumie ignored it, in her head there was a ticking clock and an overload of thoughts. Cocytus began to readjust his aim to use his Scythe which was just the opportunity she needed. "For a undead reaper of the sea… You sure forgot some of your edge." Kumie commented as she gripped one of her swords tightly.

The reaper hesitates confused as Kumie points out the right sword and launches it at the hands of Cocytus. The reaper stared at the puny sword ignoring it to prepare for its swing but stopped noticing tis fatal mistake. The sword glowed and branched out into various pillars making the sword contain many branching sword tips that hoped around the arms of Cocytus and then extend out to lodged into the wall to block him from swinging his Scythe.

Cocytus's eyes focus on Kumie who had on last blade and wasted no time slicing through the head of Cocytus making it come right off before the rest of its body begins to fade away. Kumie's swords shatter right after as Kumie's mid-air adventure wasn't over as she was still moving right toward-

"Liquid Magic: Last Encore!" Tear shouted surprising Kumie and surprised the defeated Cocytus as it disappeared. The remains of Cocytus gather up into various small swords that are then launched at Kumie from behind as she is in the air still. She tried as hard as she could to avoid the incoming blade is, but they lodged themselves into her torso shocking Kumie as Tear grinned at the results of her spell.

"Checkmate K." Tear said with a smile but then blinked as there was silence. No scream of pain, no nothing… What gives? Tear stared up at Kumie who was still moving toward her! The swords lodged into Kumie were gone, there were various holes in Kumie's body and… There was Cocytus's scythe in Kumie's hands ready to swipe. "A scythe that can rend anything in half huh?!"

Tear's eyes go wide in fear as Kumie was prepared to swipe and was moving the Scythe to kill Tear, the light in those eyes disappearing I n second before on the last second the Scythe disappears confusing Tear further. "Too bad I'm not one for killing!" In place of the didn't disappear, it was broken down into various Ether particles that fired themselves into Tear knocking the girl back into a nearby wall with a scream as the blasts repeatedly hit Tear before finally there was silence.

Kumie fell into the disappearing water as a sign that Tear had been defeated, the shield protecting Sanit disappearing as Kumie felt slightly numb feeling the effects of Cocytus's poison along with borrowing his Scythe. _"Thanks Cocytus…" _She focused her thoughts on thanking the thing that was trying to kill her a second ago. She lifted her hand to see a marking symbolizing Cocytus receding into her skin. "Kind of creepy to know that magic has a mind of its own."

Sanit ran over to Kumie and kneeled to pick her up out of the water. "W-What happened there?"

Kumie shrugged a bit. "Apparently… Cocytus grants his power to those that beat him or his owner. I don't get it either, but at the last second when Tear was trying to use Last Encore, Cocytus was giving me his curse."

Sanit stared at Kumie then thought for a minute. "The Curse of Cocytus… I know Cocytus is a spirit of some kind that transfers to other people in order to evolve, it adapts itself to whatever you focus your magic on. But I didn't know it transferred itself on certain conditions."

Kumie just sighed and tried to get up but was stopped by Sanit. "Oh no you don't! You just beat Tear, you deserve a break."

"But we need to get out of here." Kumie stated making Sanit shake his head.

"Such a silly kid. Come on" Sanit slowly picked up Kumie using the strength he has in his Lizard form. "I'll just carry you out of here. Maybe all the way to Magnolia." He stated putting her on his back and then starting to move.

"You don't have to do that really." Kumie quickly tried to state to Sanit.

"Hmph. You really don't know when you relax do you?" Sanit sighed then eyed Tear's unconscious self before carrying Kumie along. "Regardless of your opinion I'm taking you to Magnolia like this!"

There was silence as Kumie simply stared at Sanit from his back, the same silence followed at least until they were finally outside of the tower and on their way to Magnolia. Once the Tower was in the distance, Kumie began to talk again. "Thank you."

Sanit was surprised but shrugged. "No kid… Thank you." Sanit stated softly. "If it wasn't for you, we wouldn't be out here in the real world." Sanit eyes trail to Kumie's arms seeing them glow blue before focusing forward. "Either way… You should rest up kid, seems your body is calling for it."

"How do you…" Kumie began to question.

"I broke you out remember? Now rest will ya?" Sanit commented before getting a small nod from Kumie who couldn't help but close her eyes as her body's Ether began to replenish itself yet again. As for her mind… It begins to wander yet again.

* * *

**Right then… That's a good stopping point… I'm kind of sweating in fear of putting this first chapter up. I am happy to do a fighting sequence, but I just hope it wasn't too short in length or too short in detail.**

**Either way hope anyone who reads this enjoys the chapter!**


	2. AA - Chapter 2: Memoria, Origins

**Hey everyone. (I really should upload my chapters at a better time.)**

**If you are reading this, then that means you are at least giving Chapter 2 a try after the first one! Which, in all honesty makes me very grateful! Its been forever since I did a combat chapter like that after all.**

**In any event today's chapter will be a contrast to the first one, don't want Kumie to seem powerful without an explanation after all!**

**Anyways let's continue with our adventure!**

* * *

**Awakening Arc**

**Chapter 2**

**Memoria, Origins**

* * *

"So, you are interviewing to become a Librarian at Triton Library…"A brown-haired man mumbled to himself staring at a clipboard then eyes trail up at to the person sitting on the other side of the desk. "… Why does a young lady like yourself want to work at an old, dusty library like this one?"

The focus of the question was on a white-haired girl with red eyes, she had a red earing made of nothing but a jewel it seemed like, pale skin, a lack of make-up, but dressed the part for an interview at the very least. She wore a skirt, a blouse, and a comfy-looking overshirt. A psychology book can be spotted on the lap of the girl who didn't seem to have much emotion.

"Well… I like to read for starters so that's a benefit to having a library with all due respect… Either way, I wanted to take up a job that wasn't too… Physical heavy I guess you can say? Books are one of my hobbies after all." Kumie states thinking about it further as the brown-haired boy's eyes, which were also brown, looked down before he sighed.

"Okay this isn't working… Kumie, seriously, as one of the few Tech Psychologists… You could go anywhere. Why are you spending your time doing a job at a library?" The boy simply questioned.

Kumie tilts her head. "I don't think bringing personal matters into this is going to change my mind Vaughn. Besides, you need help, don't you?"

"I… I do need help around the library true. But I'm just saying-" Vaughn continued.

"And I'm saying I'm offering to help. End of story." Kumie noted blankly back.

Vaughn just stared at Kumie then rubbed the bridge of his nose. "I really can't tell if you are angry or just annoyed."

"Probably both." Kumie comments as Vaughn just sighed then leaned back into his chair.

"Well… I guess if it has to be anyone… Better to be someone I can trust I suppose." Vaughn mumbled to himself then eyed Kumie who just sat there waiting for an official answer. It took Vaughn a few second before writing down Kumie's name into a registry. "Fine, but don't let this job take you away from your studies. Having a career in tech and science is rare, especially in this place."

Kumie lowered her eyes a bit thinking about that. "Well, "this place" is still our home, nonetheless. Even if we are trapped in, here right?" Kumie questioned, what emotions were put into the words is unknown, but Vaughn knew the weight of them.

Vaughn was silent for a moment thinking about what Kumie said before smiling. "Right. Home…" Vaughn's voice trails off as the scene turns light blue and disperses before red eyes open up feeling no bed under her body, instead it was the scaly back of Sanit.

"Is home…" She mumbles to herself softly still tired and in her sleeping state but slowly woke herself up. What she saw was merely a memory, in the form of a dream. She wasn't in Taikoku, her home, anymore. She had just beat up someone who kidnapped her, and was being carried by Sanit, who was forced to become a lizard due to the experiments done at that tower. Whenever or not he can transform back is unknown to her right now.

Sanit noticed the movement after a second looking back. "Hey there princess, its only been an hour or two. You feeling better?"

Kumie was silent staring back at Sanit then checked her right hand, there was no flashing blue veins anymore, Cocytus's rune was gone as well but she could still sense the reaper within her. Perhaps the process of the "curse" is the cause for her ether to being going wild.

"I'm fine… But what about you?" Kumie questioned Sanit who stared back at Kumie then sighed a bit.

"I keep trying, but no dice. I can't turn off my Take-Over Soul. Then again, if I did that, I wouldn't have the strength to carry you for hours… So, I guess for now, its perfectly fine if its like this." Sanit stated keeping his eyes forward. "Although, I should warn you, that if I see anything it isn't my fault!"

Kumie rose an eyebrow slightly confused and then remembered her outfit as she looked down wearing nothing else but the garb she had when she woke up. Seems the ether clothing she made dispersed to help her recover faster… She sighed a bit as slowly creating a fresh batch of clothing that was loose and acted much like normal clothing creating a skirt, shorts under that, with a blouse under the white garbs and then a set of boots just in case she needed to walk.

Sanit sighed relaxing a bit. "Much better…"

Kumie was silent for a moment then turned back to Sanit. "So, are you like this forever?"

Sanit was silent then shrugged. "No clue, I'll have to ask my guild when I get the chance. Hopefully they will accept what I have become and believe I'm still me."

Kumie mused to herself. "A guild huh… We only talk about it briefly… But what is a guild?"

Sanit shrugged a bit. "A guild is simply a home for mages to go to. To some it provides a place of shelter, a place to get stronger and meet a ton of people, but also a place to be able to go out on officially jobs for cash rewards. There are more labels to the guilds than I could count."

"You sure you aren't just being lazy?" Kumie bluntly asked making Sanit cough in surprise.

"Hey! I'm being serious here!" Sanit shout before calming down with a sigh. "If I remember correctly… Fairy Tail should be the guild in Magnolia. I hear they are a rowdy bunch, it would be the perfect place for you."

Kumie thought about what Sanit meant about that for a moment. "Perfect place for me?"

Sanit was silent then nodded. "Yeah, once we reach Magnolia, I'll leave you in the hands of Fairy Tail and then head to my guild. I would take you along, but you need to focus on recovering, not to mention you would be safer with them than on the road with me." Sanit noted somberly.

There was a moment of silence before the Lizard grinned. "Oh what? Going to miss your knight in shi- YWOUCH!" He screamed after feeling a kick into the gut from Kumie's boot.

"Nope, I'm perfectly fine… Besides I understand. I just hope you travel safely is all." She commented as she relaxed again then looked around noticing the rather green hilly scenery around them with mountains in the distant. For some reason the scenery had this calming effect over her that make it hard to become angry or feel any negative emotions. Its like the land was pure, untouched by the world even. It wasn't a feeling she had back in Taikoku that was certain, its like she was transported to another timeline, where sprawling cities were not even a thing yet… Then again, she wouldn't know what a sprawling city would look like.

Sanit looked back and smiled. "Hey, don't say goodbye just yet. We will have at least an hour's time before we make it there… So, while we hike along… Tell me about your home."

Kumie turned back to Sanit then lowered her head a bit. "What do you want to know?"

The lizard gave it a moment. "Well… Tell me about where you use to live for starters. Like its name, what kind of place it is…"

Kumie thought about what to tell Sanit, there was plenty to tell about Taikoku city which made it hard to figure out where to begin before settling on an answer. "Taikoku was an interesting place, its where I was born at and lived at for all of my life. Not by choice either."

Sanit rose an eyebrow. "Not by choice?"

There was silence from Kumie before she reflected on it. "Cause Taikoku was an isolated city. A place where the world's most hated kind of people were thrown into and forced to live in. I was born from the marriage of two of those kinds of people."

Sanit was genuinely confused by this before sighing. "What kind of people were they then?"

Kumie thought of the best way to answer it but figured the term was still suitable. "In a way… I guess the best way to explain it would be to say that we are human, but not completely." She paused for a moment then continued. "We are… Mutants."

"Mutants?"

"Yeah… Basically humans who have parts of their anatomy altered. The cause of it is unknown, but a lot of people outside of Taikoku did not like their existence… That's why the governments of the world devised and set up a walled off city to lock the mutants away." Kumie said.

Sanit didn't know if Kumie was crazy or what since there was never a mention of such a place but considered it was best to question it too deeply for now. "I see… So that's how it started…" There was silence for a bit of time before Sanit continued. "Well then, tell me from the beginning about your home! After all, a home is a home!"

Kumie was surprised by the sudden enthusiasm but focused on what the general knowledge on Taikoku was and tried to figure out how to summarize it for Sanit.

"Well… It all began with the drive of one man. A former king to say the least…" Kumie trailed off images flowing into her head.

In Kumie's memory, the pages of a book called "Dawn of Daylight" speaks of a royal family whose family crest was that of the Sun. That royal family had one ruler who never showed weakness and refused to die even as his kingdom lasted well over 400 years. Many people worshiped him and his rule protecting the people and promising prosperity to the land throughout that time.

That king also had special powers that stem from three objects he wielded: A amulet that could reveal the true natures of one's soul, a scepter known to control the power of nature itself, and a crown known to give total authority to those around him. All three of these relics grand on their own were worshiped as much as the king was.

Together, they granted the king with power beyond anyone's comprehension, yet for some reason the kingdom broke apart. The reason as to why is lost to history and time, however the book, written by the king himself supposedly, states that he himself disbanded the kingdom and his followers and himself branched out to various parts of the world.

This kingdom of the King's would be the origin point of where mutants were born supposedly. The reason for such a theory, is that shortly after many cities experienced problems with mutants and feared for their lives. No one from the former kingdom predicted the prejudice brought upon the mutants, that is… If you were the king, now commonly named Shin Hitsumari.

The king supposedly predicted what would occur to his former followers, as such he created a safe haven for them 300 years later without ever taking credit under the name of their former king. It started with a simple park forged through the power of three sacred relics as they were now called. That park, later named Hitsumari Park, began the starting point of the creation of a new sprawling city with multiple levels to it, from the "Slums," to the more safe and modern areas of the city.

This city was all made, a month prior to The Great Mutant Migration.

Kumie was brought out of her tale by Sanit's question. "The Great Mutant Migration? Is this where Taikoku comes in?"

"Yeah… They said the king predicted this would happen since he set up the safe haven only a month prior. It was him that suggested the Mutant be put into the city in the first place if relocation was the only peaceful option." Kumie said softly.

Sanit thought about it. "Still… Forcing so many people into one small city… I can't even imagine it. So, your home was created… When?" Sanit asked as Kumie thought about it then continued on with the story.

"Exactly 100 years ago. Taikoku City was established as its name by the king… Soon after he disappeared, along with hiding the three sacred relics so they wouldn't fall into the wrong hands." Kumie noted

"He… Left again?" Sanit was surprised the king disappeared yet again.

"He did… He left the mutants so that they could fend for themselves, from governmental issues, to expanding the city with the limited space they did had. A wall was being established acting as a formal barrier between the outside world and Taikoku… Even if that was not needed…" Kumie said somberly back in response.

"What do you mean?" Sanit questioned.

"Shortly after the King disappeared and Taikoku was establishing itself… The N appeared." She said softly confused Sanit before drifting back into memory lane.

Taikoku had a formal wall established to act as a political border of where the mutants can and can't go to. But that wall was rendered null and void after the appearance of The N. No one knows where it came from, or why it appeared, but it did. A week after the King's disappearance, a heavy fog-like sandstorm appeared surrounding the city's walls, no one knew why not even the governments on the outside world. As such it was established that the Mutants would be allowed to traverse and populate this unknown fog while they investigate its origins.

That was a mistake, settlers did push out into the N, but they were not met with a free place to gather resources or live in, no… It would be better to compare it to a wasteland, a wasteland filled with monsters. Within the N, strange creatures would be born, even civilizations made of humanoid version of The N. No one has lived to tell or share any information gathered about the N, all that is known is that The N became the new barrier to the outside world ranging a whole 20 miles supposedly from information given by the outside world.

The good this created however, was that it drew some form of connected between Taikoku with the other governments, viewing the mutants as a way to counter the unknown threat. Secretly though, they had hoped that the new threat would make for a good sense of mutual destruction.

Either way, the good relations allowed for Taikoku to evolve in those 100 years, it established a series of branches in the government to provide order: Cerberus for the head of government, Vanguard for internal defense, Fenrir for skirmishes against the N, Hope as a focus on rescue services, and Onward for exploration and expansion.

The five branches of the government allowed for the protection of the city while also establishing a hierarchy of power. It gave a sense of order which rid of dissent... At least it should have. There are many mutants who have terrible, and mostly short lives, which stems from a thought that the government is mistreating them. So, over those 100 years, various rebellions and resistance groups popped up, some even calling for a war with the humans that locked them into that city.

However, as one could tell, Taikoku remains standing from its walls to its towering buildings. Rebellions were never successful, mainly because mutants were diverse and equally strong compared to one another.

"So, there are others like you?" Sanit questioned but only got silence as Kumie moved on to try and avoid the question.

Mutants, as explained before are humans but not completely. The established explanation for the term, is a human who has been altered in some way, or something that is humanoid but not truly human. A mutant's abilities ranged greatly from the ability to create weapons, to manipulate the elements, to having the traits of animals. The forms mutants took was endless, even infinite perhaps. However due to the living conditions some mutants had, life expectancies were low due to the fact that a mutant's body is less stable and can break out from their own abilities.

"W-Wait a minute!" Sanit cuts in quickly even stopping their hike. "What about you?! You are a mutant, too right?"

Kumie was silent a bit looking down and nodding. "Yeah… Eventually my body will break down, so regardless of my feelings, eventually my own gifts will become a threat to my life." She noticed Sanit's concern but pats his shoulder. "Relax, I said eventually. I've lived for 20 years and haven't died yet… There is a way to survive that destruction of your body."

Sanit sighed in relief. "You could have said that at least!"

"Sorry, I couldn't resist leaving you in suspense a bit." Kumie commented blankly, it was hard to tell if she genuinely was apologizing or having fun with Sanit's reactions.

"Now is not the time for jokes!" Sanit raged before huffing as he continued the hike. "So, what is that way?"

Kumie chuckled a bit before focused on the question. "Simple really: We train our bodies, much like how you learn spells I assume."

Sanit sighed again. "Really? Doesn't seem like a quiet life to me. Then again, as a mage I don't think I could last in a calm world…"

Kumie was silent on that comment as Sanit asked the earlier question. "So, are mutants usually as strong as you or something? You did pretty well back there against Tear, enough to get marked by Cocytus." There was silence again as Sanit narrowed his eyes. "… Ignoring it a second time huh?"

Kumie was silent for another moment longer before focusing on the question finally. "There… Were many strong mutants. Many of which were stronger than me actually."

Sanit was silent as he heard those words going silent for a moment. "Let me guess…"

Kumie stopped Sanit by gripping his shoulder. "Don't… I can say it myself." She breathed in then out just as Sanit shut himself up. "Taikoku… The city itself is gone. I don't know if anyone else survived what happened to it… But I think I am the only survivor of what happened there."

Sanit's eyes were somber, he knew the answer, but hearing it from the one trying to talk about it made it harder to hear. "How… Can a city just up and get destroyed like that?"

"Its as I said, there are many stronger mutants compared to me… It just happened to be that the last rebellion had someone who was even stronger…" Kumie somberly said eyes narrowing at the memory of a dark skinned many with red eyes, black hair, and tattoos all over his body with a grin that could kill.

'_This sure is fun isn't it, Ms. Blue Devil? Seeing everyone fall apart right before you.'_

Kumie shook her head of the memory, she wasn't there anymore. She wasn't in that "world" anymore. She didn't have to remember him, not now, not ever.

Sanit sensed the discomfort from Kumie and thought about a topic changer then got an idea. "Well then, what about you?"

"Me?" Kumie questioned getting a nod from Sanit as she frowned a bit. "Well there isn't much to talk about. I was isolated for quite a bit of my lifetime… Much like in that tower, but less extreme I guess in a way."

"Wait, this isn't the first time someone tried to use you like that?" Sanit was surprised as he asked that, like he usually is.

"No… I told you before my body is made of Ether, right?" Kumie questioned getting a nod before continuing. "I don't know why my body is made of ether at all. However, what was known is that my body endlessly supplies itself with it, I have a max cap of how much I can keep around at one time, and I can use that amount however I want."

She showed her hand to Sanit and created a small wireframe of a ball. "I can create whatever I want with this ether, and even have it mimic other types of things, like ice. But since I am basically an endless supply of a form of energy… You can understand why people would try to test it, to see if it can be harnessed."

Sanit was silent then eyed Kumie. "So then, how many times were you test on?" A bit fearful to hear the answer.

Kumie thought about it. "Well… The first time when right after my mother died… When I was 12 years old, at first it was a precaution since my mother's body broke down from her own abilities… But they found out that my body was made of ether then and there. Shortly after I was forced to be put under various tests, my family was compensated for the research at the very least… But that didn't change the fact I was being tortured essentially, to see if my ether can be harnessed."

"Considering what Tear was discussing… I would like to assume it worked right?" Sanit questioned.

Kumie shook her head. "No actually." The answer surprised Sanit again.

"Huh?! But Tear said-"

"Tear did, but mutants are different Sanit, we don't know about Ether, or Ethernano in the case of mages, whatever that is." Kumie quickly comments to Sanit making the lizard silent, trying to understand how someone doesn't know about Ether. Kumie took the silence as Sanit understanding and continued.

"I was the only one that had Ether in their body… So, all the research they made was new, but no matter what they did, they could never capture my Ether and utilize it. They tried anything they could to see if they could, it ate up a lot of my lifetime... But in the end… They couldn't do anything with my Ether and labeled me as useless." Kumie said somberly.

"Now that's going too far! Its their fault for not understanding how important Ether is!" Sanit shouted surprising Kumie for a second, but somberly looked down. "S-Sorry..." Sanit said softly. "I-I… Just hate it when I hear kids being used like that is all…"

There was a smile on Kumie's face for a second. "Yeah… It didn't end there sadly for me…" She said softly. "Shortly after… My Father passed away to top it off. Who I didn't see since I was 12…"

There was silence from both Sanit and Kumie, a whole ten minutes passed before there was any more comments. "The second time was in that tower… I'm more surprised to have end up in a place where Ether is so valuable…"

Sanit was silent then sighed a bit. "Talk about a messed-up past… Did anything good happen afterwards though?" Sanit questioned to create a lighter environment stopping waiting to hear Kumie comment.

Kumie thought about it then looked up at the sky seeing the sun glaring down from the blue sky. She felt the warmth of the sun on her pale skin before smiling being reminded of Triton Library, Vaughn, and various things that happened from then to… She stopped before her memories took the dark turn.

"Yeah… There were many good memories." She said softly with a smile. "I'll never forget those good times."

"Good. Make sure to hold onto those good moments… Along with any new good memories that come after we get to the top of that hill." Sanit noted as he walked up to the top of the hill.

"What do you…" Kumie's eyes widen a bit as right over the hill lied a giant town. It seemed to be a mix of a city she read about known as Venice but, with a feeling of modern architecture, and a medieval theme to top it all off. She didn't know how to feel as she could spot a giant Cathedral at the dead center of the town, a park in one part of the town, a giant sea behind the town, various canals… "It was beautiful." Was the only thought she could register in her head.

Sanit smiled as he eyed the town himself then stretched his lizard arm out then pointing. "There, that's the place I've been talking about."

Kumie followed Sanit's arm then noticed what the lizard was pointed at. At the end of the town along the edge of it leading toward the ocean, lied a towering building with red roof tiles, and a white base color she assumed to be marble or stone. It was hard to tell from here, but she had a feeling she knew what the building was.

"That is the home of Fairy Tail right there. Ready to check it out?" Sanit questioned.

Kumie was still taking in the sights a bit before nodding. "Let's go." She said softly then looked behind her for a second deep in thought but was thrown out of whatever she was focused on by Sanit starting to move again.

Sanit was grinning just as he was walking off down the hill moving toward Magnolia Town. "Then let's get you to Fairy Tail!"

"That is them." A voice said from behind a tree stated, the person was in a lab coat. The voice itself belonged to a man who has a scar from a claw attack on his cheek. Orange hair was on the top of his head.

"I see… A giant lizard wanted dead or alive and a little girl being carried by it needing rescue and returned… To think a defenseless girl would be kidnapped from such a monster." Another voice stated belonging to a bald tanned skinned man holding a staff in one hand. His chest was covered in a tribal-looking garb that opened up at his stomach with a pair of pants to go along with it. "Why is the monster going into Magnolia though?"

"I have no clue really, I just know one of my… Assistants was injured by that lizard and made off with the girl. I was lucky enough to have come across you when I did… Jura-san." The lab coat stated with a smile. "I would appreciate it if you can rescue our friend if you can."

Jura eyed the man with a simple smile. "It is quite alright friend. I will save your damsel as soon as possible. I will be back before you know it Nero-dono." He stated moving off toward the town.

Nero bowed with a grin behind Jura. "Thank you very much. Wizard Saint Jura." Waiting for the man to be far enough to stand up and then brings up a screen next to him. "We located her sir. I sent a Wizard Saint to try and recapture her. She will return to use shortly."

"Good." A voice stated back. "Don't let Subject K escape. Subject B2's state is of no matter at all. All we need is the girl." The voice stated before the transmission was cut off making Nero grin.

"Very well… Sir." Nero stated before laughing out a bit and simply stood there to observe the events creates a series of screens which allowed him to observe Subject K and Jura. "Let's see what you will do now Subject B2."

* * *

There were eyes, many eyes drawn toward Sanit who was stuck in his Lizard form, and Kumie who was on the lizard's back. She didn't know if the eyes were of confusion or fear, but it seemed to be more of confusion. She thought there would be more fear but then remembered that Take-Over magic was a thing. If magic was that common, perhaps people will pass off Sanit's look for simply magic.

Her eyes were drawn back to Sanit. "I can walk now Sanit… We should see if you can turn off your Take-Over magic…"

Sanit shook his head with a smile. "Its fine, I'll attempt it once I know you are in safe hands. After all, I don't know how drained I'll be once I turn it off."

"Using magic is draining?" Kumie questioned.

"Yep! Just like it is for you using Ether, for us we use Ethernano that is within our bodies to cast magic. When we are low on it, we can't cast as much magic as we would before using any of it." Sanit explained as they took a turn and began to walk along a canal with a boat moving by giving a wave to the two of them, mainly to Kumie who waved back softly.

"So… In your case, it would take up magic energy to enter a form and get out of said form?" Kumie questioned trying to understand this world's Ethernano a bit.

"That's the basic gist of it. Plus, I used up quite a bit of magic back in the tower just trying to break you and everyone out." Sanit stated.

Kumie thought about it then realized it. "W-Wait did they escape?"

Sanit shrugged. "Who knows, but I would like to think they did. If they didn't, we can at least tell someone about that place." He turned to the left again and then smiled as they came out to a wide-open road with only a few passersby moving around. "Great! I think this is Central Path, its just a direct beeline for Fairy Tail." He stated pointing to the guild building at the end of the road.

"So… Fairy Tail is a guild, right? What's the building for?" She asked softly as Sanit began walking toward Fairy Tail, they were still a bit way away from the building.

"It's the headquarters, or base of operations for a guild. It gives you a permanent spot to return to after a long mission. I don't think you can call yourself a Guild without a base of operations, after all they are central to quite a few cities." Sanit noted smiling a bit. "Maybe you will join the guild or something!"

"I don't know about joining a guild… I'm not a mage either, remember?" Kumie reminded Sanit.

"Oh- Right… I forgot about that." Sanit said sighing a bit. "Well who knows, I mean Ether is basically the energy used for magic in a way. Why wouldn't you pass as a mage? Besides… Maybe you can use magic?"

Kumie didn't think of it like that. "You act like anyone can become one…"

"Anyone with a good amount of Ethernano can become one with training! But for you, you already have a basic understanding of how your Ether works, so it shouldn't become that big of a problem." The lizard informed her before going on. "Cocytus joined you for example, regardless of the form he takes now, you will need to use magic in order to summon him."

"So, either way I'll have to know magic?" Kumie questioned.

"Seems like it." Sanit commented.

Kumie sighed slightly then perked up sensing something big near them then noticed something happening to the earth. "Sanit stop!"

"Huh?" Sanit questioned as he quickly stopped and suddenly pillars of rectangular rocks appear in front of them blocking the way. "What?! You saw that coming?!"

"I can sense Ether pretty well yeah." Kumie noted. "Its handy in this place, I guess… But… What is this?"

Sanit eyed the pillars of rock. "Isn't this… Earth Magic?" As Sanit was focused on the pillar Kumie continued to sense the big amount of energy but couldn't tell where it was coming from as she looked to her right then left. Then suddenly a bald man suddenly a pillar forms out from the wall and hits Sanit in the chest flinging him and Kumie back with Kumie being launched away from the lizard.

"Eath Magic? Is that what it is?" Kumie questioned slowly getting up eying Sanit who was getting up as well.

"Yeah… But I think I know who is using this…" Sanit mumbled out the last bit before a figure appeared to hop on top of the wall of rocks. "N-No way… It can't be!"

At the top of the pillars of rock was a bald man with dots for eyebrows, at least in Kumie's mind that's was the description she was going for. In his hand was a staff as he stared down at the Sanit specifically with an intimidating aura to boot.

"What is wrong?" Kumie questioned Sanit as she slowly got up onto her feet and dusted herself off.

"Its… Jura!" Sanit stated shaking on the ground as he continued to get up.

"Who?" Kumie simply asked before Jura created a magic circle. "Look out!" She tried to warn Sanit.

"Earth Magic: Rock Iron Fist!" Jura fired off a fist made of Earth from the magic circle moving at a high speed at Sanit who was still in the process of getting back onto his feet. This leads to him getting pummeled in the chest back into the ground and dragged against it a bit before lying on his back near the wall of a building.

Kumie stared at Sanit's lying body then narrowed her eyes over to Jura who hopped down from the pillars of rock. "Who are you?!"

Jura paused staring at Kumie for a second then eyed Sanit for a moment then looked at Kumie once again. "I am Jura Neekis of Lamia Scale, I am here to rescue you from your kidnapper."

Kumie blinked and rose an eyebrow. "Kidnapper? What the heck are you talking about?"

Jura was confused by the response but pointed to Sanit. "This lizard monster kidnapped you from your home with a group of scientists. I'm here to save you from him and bring you back." Jura noted turning to walk toward Sanit. "Do not worry, I'll protect you, young miss from this monster."

Kumie was even more confused by the actions Jura was committing himself too. The added irony that Jura was a member of Lamia Scale was even more confusing for her due to her lack of knowledge in the world.

But that wasn't the important part. Who the heck told him she was kidnapped? Was it Tear? But she was knocked out, then again, it's possible she woke up during her and Sanit's travel her. Right now, it wasn't important as she runs over to Sanit to stand in front of him and block Jura.

Jura stops a bit surprised by Kumie's sudden action but didn't seem too unphased. "Wait! There is a big misunderstanding here!"

One of the black dots Jura had rose in confusion. "Misunderstanding? Young miss, I don't think you understand. You were kidnapped by this monster from people that care about you."

Kumie shot at glare at Jura surprising him further. "And you believed that?!"

"Of course, I do, I was even presented proof." Jura slowly pulls out a light blue crystal confusing Kumie before Jura extends it out and it reveals a screen of some kind.

"What is this?" Kumie questioned.

"Just observe young miss, and you will understand." Jura stated.

Kumie rose an eyebrow and observed the video and was a bit shocked to see that it was a video of the events in the tower, it showed Sanit in his lizard form kidnapping her from a bedroom. Then it showed Tear who in this video was trying to "Rescue" her from the Archive Floor in the tower. Tear was easily beaten by Sanit before taking her out of the tower.

Kumie stared at the screen as it turns off only seeing the stone as Jura's sympathetic face shaking his head a bit as Kumie tried to process the recording. "I don't know what lies this monster has told you. But it is clear you have no recollection of the events that transpired. You were kidnapped by people who cared for you… As such I'll rescue you from him and return you back."

Jure puts away the crystal as Kumie stood there just standing there. "I can understand the truth hurts… But please move aside. I must stop put an end to heinous monster for the acts it had committed."

Kumie was silent for a moment her hands balling into fists. This was someone that Sanit knew by name, someone he probably looked up to. If Sanit was awake he is probably devastated by the thought, he is being called a monster by Jura, one of his comrades if she understood guilds right. It was just as bad as herself being called a monster.

She looked behind her to check on Sanit who appeared to be motionless but saw the streams coming from his face. It wasn't right she thought, it wasn't right at all. When they were finally free, those scientists threw a trick out like that to fool someone else?

Jura noticed that Kumie wasn't moving much at all and thought she was mentally trying to process everything and sighed moving around Kumie who was deep in thought and stood over to the side of Sanit raising his staff. "It is time for you to rest heinous monster! Pay for the sins you have committed!"

A magic circle appears from his staff. "Earth Magic: Rock Avalanche!" A series of rocks come out of the ground breaking up the road a bit before they all gather above Sanit who stare up at the rock's tears streaming from his face.

"J-Jura… W-Why?" Sanit whispered out his voice choked up in his throat as the rocks launch downward at Sanit who closed her eyes unable to cast magic to counter the falling rocks. He wanted to return to Lamia Scale, he didn't do all of this only to be killed by his own guildmate!

He felt the rocks hit his body for a few moments but then felt the rocks stop coming. His body hurt, but he was fine making him open his eyes only to see a familiar light blue shield form around him defending against the rocks that would have crushed him. The shield was cracked but able to hold long enough before it disappears the rocks just harmlessly falling on top of Sanit the rest of the way.

Jura was surprised eyes widen as Sanit slowly tried to get up staring at Kumie who had a hand stretched out with the particles of the ether she used returning to her body. "K-Kumie… W-Why?"

"Idiot! Why are you crying?" Kumie stated turning to Sanit. "You have a goal to fulfill right?! Don't ask me why you know why you idiot! Who are you?! You aren't some stupid monster!"

Jura eyed Kumie silently even more confused. "You… Protected him?"

Kumie glared at Jura. "Of course, I did! The video you have is a fake, you think I would believe such a stupid recording?" She said calmly.

Jura's eyes looked to Sanit then focused back on Kumie. "I see… So, you have been brainwashed into believing such. I was no aware you could us magic, but it seems I will have to subdue you to make you come back to your senses Young... No, Kumie is it?"

Kumie rose an eyebrow. "My name is Kumie… But I'm not brainwashed Jura. I don't know what you were told by Tear or whoever else is working for her, but I was not kidnapped!"

"K-Kumie you can't… Fight him! J-Jura he's…" Sanit began to say before Jura eyed him then kicked Sanit out of the rubble and into the wall of a building where his body slumps against.

Kumie was unsure of what Sanit was trying to say but the kick from Jura ticked her off. "You are a what?" She questioned, aside from coming from the same guild as Sanit, there was nothing else she can assume from Sanit's words right now.

Jura was silent observing the monster wondering how a monster would have knowledge on what he is before focusing on Kumie. "I am one of the Ten Wizard Saints. Although the weakest in comparison to the others, we together make up the strongest mages there are." Jura stating getting in a stance. "You are young, but I hope to have an honorable battle Kumie-dono."

Kumie hesitated a bit, her Ether was fast to generate but she didn't know if she is prepared to face someone this strong… No, she knows that she is prepared, she has faced tough enemies before. She relaxed her muscles then focused on Jura.  
"I don't know much about honor Jura…But, I do know protecting your friends is something that falls in line with that right?" She questioned Jura who began to glare and observe her.

"Yes, I do believe it would fall in line with being honorable. But it is also making sure to defeat injustice and defend good people." Jura stated.

"Lamia Scale speaks of that right?" Kumie questioned.

Jura smiled. "Yes, it quite does. I'm surprised you know of it."

"You said you were from Lamia Scale. I thought the symbol looked like a mermaid, but I didn't know it was a Lamia until I was told."

Jura rose an eyebrow. "Yes… That is quite true the symbol is that of a Lamia. Though some do confuse it for a…" Jura blinked a bit then looked at Kumie for a moment. "How did you…?"

Kumie narrowed her eyes. "What? Told I was a sheltered girl or something that didn't know about the world?"

Jura's eyes were wide a bit but held his resolve narrowing his eyes. "A mind game is not honorable Kumie-dono!"

"It isn't a mind game when I'm speaking the truth!" Kumie shouted surprising Jura and spreads out her arms and from them two Ether Wolves come from them and charge at Jura surprising him for only a moment before he focused.

He taps his staff on the ground. "Earth Magic: Iron Rock Spikes!" A magic circle is activated under Jura before a series of earth spikes grow from the ground, but they hop up into the air right before they hit. "They predicted my move?"

"No, I did!" Kumie shouted drawing Jura's Attention as the Ether Wolves were coming at Jura and at the same time Kumie launched herself at Jura two blades made of Ether in her hands ready to slash down at Jura.

Jura quickly looked around assessing the movement of his opponent and then spun his staff to bap away the Ether Wolves which disperse from the force of the staff surprising Kumie for a second but commits to her attack which gets blocked by the staff once it stops spinning. "Guess the title wasn't for show. That's a good thing for everyone!" Kumie stated as her blades and Jura's staff clashed.

Jura smirked. "I may be the weakest, but I am a Wizard Saint!" Suddenly Jura presses his hand on Kumie's stomach quickly to phase her for a second, which was just enough. "Earth Magic: Iron Rock Fist!" The same fist that hit Sanit earlier launched and hits Kumie's stomach launching her back and into the ground letting go of the blades as they fall to the ground.

Kumie slowly gets up after that hit rubbing her stomach checking for much damage that did to her then eyed Jura who stood tall from his spot. She stared at Jura whose eyes were focused on here, which was good enough for her. "As a Wizard Saint, while I don't know if you are using your full strength or not. I am grateful that you aren't holding back."

"Hmph. It is the simple rules of battle. We mustn't show restraint toward our enemies or partners of combat." Jura noted getting into a stance ready to cast his next spell.

"… And what about fellow guild members? What does a fight with them entail?" She questioned.

Jura stared and relaxed a bit standing back up observing Kumie. "A simple spar, we do not view out guildmates with ill will. We have already had our fair share of people who have left our guild, either disappearing completely or supposedly being killed in the line of duty… However, spar or not we should not hold restraint. If we did, we could not improve."

Kumie was silent a bit then looked down a bit. "… One of them was a person named Sanit right?"

Jura stared at Kumie eyes wide surprised. "Did you… Say… Sanit? As in Sanit Frelo?"

Kumie was surprised to hear a last name, Sanit didn't share his last name with her. But instead of focusing on using that to confirm it, she focused on revealing another piece of info. "He uses Take-Over magic right?"

Jura was even more surprised. "T-That's right! How do you know about Sanit?!"

Kumie smiled as she kept looking down. "Because I met him, he spoke of him being from a guild called-" Kumie is cutoff sensing magic and quickly activated the wings on her boots so that she can quickly dodge out of the way of incoming spiked rocks.

After safely landing on the ground she stared at Jura. "J-Jura? What was that for?!"

"You speak of a lie Kumie-dono. There is no way you met Sanit! He is dead!" Jura stated preparing to cast another spell. "The dead cannot speak!"

"But Jura! How else would I-" Kumie sensed something coming and saw various pillars coming toward her from in front of her.

"Earth Magic: Iron Rock Ballista!" Jura shouted as the pillars were fired at Kumie who quickly created a medieval style shield to block the incoming rocks but was pushed back by the attack her shield breaking instantly. She quickly lands softly on her feet thanks to her winged boots but focused on Jura.

"Jura I'm not lying! I spoke with Sanit! He is alive!" Kumie shouted.

Jura hesitated and focused on the battle quickly. "If you plan to throw out the name of the dead, then show me proof!" Jura stated suddenly surprising Kumie as he got into another stance. "Prove to me that Sanit Frelo is alive! If not, then focus on giving me an honorable battle Kumie-dono!"

Kumie eyed Sanit's body thinking about how to prove such then eyed Jura just in time to focus on the next attack but couldn't see it. "Earth Magic: Rock Avalanche!" He shouted yet there were no rocks coming from around him or near him? Wait…

She realized too late as a rock is pelted against her back from behind launching her forward and shredding the back of her garb, which was already pretty shredded to begin with from her battle with Tear. Luckily her ether clothing was still around. She got back to her feet quickly staring at Jura again. "Fine! How do I prove it Jura?!"

Jura was surprised by the question but prepared to attack again regardless. "I see so you aren't all knowledgeable… We mages have indicators of who we are, through out magic, and through the guilds we represent!" Jura points at Kumie. "Earth Magic: Iron Rock Powder Explosion!" He shouted firing off a series of earth spikes at Kumie.

Instead of dodging she quickly reacting by creating a series of blades form her body and firing them off to counter the rocks but was surprised that a few pierced through her swords and jabbed into her arm and legs. Jura was surprised by this expecting Kumie to dodge again but was even more surprised as the spikes were pulled out by Kumie and not blood came out of her.

"Yeah, and what is that representation of the guild?! I knew how it looked but you were surprised and wondered how I knew. So, you tell me, how can I tell?!" Kumie shouted as her wounds began to close up with her Ether, it took up Ether to do such, but it wasn't by choice.

Jura observed Kumie seeing the wounds closing up making him wonder what kind of magic this girl has. Still, that same phrase of Kumie being aware of the symbol and the name associated to that symbol hit him. It made him confused, but connecting the dots made him wonder if it was Sanit that told her. It was becoming believable, but he needed proof.

Jura stood up straight relaxing his composure which made Kumie relax a bit. After a moment Jura lifted up one of the green color arm sleeves to reveal a brightly colored symbol, the Lamia Scale symbol was there. Jura stared at Kumie as he showed it to her. "The mark of our guild! It is applied to our bodies when we join the guild! Only members of Lamia Scale don this symbol!"

Kumie was silent observing Jura's arm then her eyes trailed over to Sanit. He had lab garbs much like she did, they covered his chest area with the rest of his body being lizard like. He had on a part of ripped pants unlike her. Her eyes shifted back to Jura who was calm as she slowly moved into a circle moving toward Sanit with this information.

Jura simply observed noticing the girl was heading toward the lizard's body and got into a stance. "What are you doing?"

Kumie kept moving ignoring the stance and then stopped in front of Sanit staring at Jura. "Defending the will of your friend, and mine." Kumie stated as she stood there.

Jura observed Kumie for a second confused then eyes go wide as he lowers his stance for a second then quickly motions for a spell. "Earth Magic: Supreme King Rock Crush!" Kumie looked around as it was just like with Rock Avalanche, a bunch of rocks being lifted up from the ground and hovering before suddenly they all come at her. "Are you implying that Sanit is that monster?!"

Kumie glared at Jura but saw the incoming barrage of rocks, trying to come up with something quick before relaxing her muscles lowering her arms. It was surprising to Jura as Kumie stared at the man then closed her eyes as the rocks came together to surround Kumie.

"Kumie-dono!" Jura shouted but the spell was already in progress as two large hands grew from the earth. He narrowed his eyes feeling a great deal of energy all of a sudden, he paused before smiling to himself as he kept the spell going. The hands come together but before they do a wave of light blue energy is fire out blasting the rocks back. The palms are suddenly stopped by two glowing hands as Jura's eyes widen.

In the middle of the two hands with shaking arms as Kumie her arms glowing blue with her veins glowing, markings and branches forming along them along with her legs and her face. The tips of her hair turning blue as the rest glows with the light of Ether. On her chest where her heart would be is a symbol of the heart trapped in a broken circle.

"E-Ether… D-Drive…" She stated her eyes glaring at Jura. "I told you Jura… I can't give you… An honorable battle yet, I'm not experienced enough. But.." She said her voice being strained as her ether has went into overdrive enhancing her abilities, but the drain is face and wouldn't last for long.

Despite this she wasted her time and kept talking as she fired out waves of ether to destroy the hands and she leaned forward but got her balance back. Jura was concerned for the girl as he never seen magic like this indeed, but he didn't know what effects it is having on the girl. It felt like… Ethernano? He thought to himself as he observed feeling the resolve coming from his opponent.

"But…! T-That's why I'm showing you now! Sanit isn't dead. He is right here! He became like this because of those same people you are helping!" Kumie raged on stepping back slowly being wobbly but kept her balance.

"He wanted nothing more than to return to Lamia Scale! You realized it yourself, haven't you?! You see it don't you?!" Kumie shouted again as Jura fell silent no longer giving a battle stance as he simply observed Kumie.

With another step backwards she grips the garb on Sanit's chest and rips it off. Jura's eyes widening as Sanit sat there crying but on his chest lied his Lamia Scale marking, along with the injuries sustained from Jura's attacks, plus various wounds from whatever tests were done to Sanit at the lab.

"You see him don't you Jura?! He is alive! Hes still… Apart of… Lamia…" Kumie's vision blurred her feet wobbling as she loses her balance but puts a foot ward to catch herself.

"Kumie-dono that's enough…" Jura stated as he observed the marking on Sanit's chest. Not sure if Kumie could see him walking up to her.

"He's… Still…" Kumie mumbled softly before feeling a hand on her shoulder. She looked up at Jura who looked down at her and was crying, she didn't know if they were tears of joy or whatever, but she saw that the battle was over. She quickly turned off the Ether Drive her veins glowing light blue still, but the markings disappeared falling forward more but Jura caught her.

"I know…" Jura cried. "I know he is." He stated softly as he observed Sanit who was awake enough to look up at Jura's face.

"I'm… Back Jura." Sanit muttered out tears on his face but her let out a smile.

Jura was still crying, that he had hurt his fellow guildmate, he was fooled, but he still smiled despite the tears. "Welcome back… Sanit." He looked back at Kumie shocked by the state she is in and quickly lowered her down onto the ground. "Kumie-dono… I apologize, I should have."

"Quiet…" Kumie muttered out letting out a pained chuckle. "I'm fine… So long as you know its Sanit… That's all that matters right?"

Jura nodded. "Yes, of course… You did your honor well." He then focused on the rest of her body with concern. "Kumie-dono your body-"

"Well that was quite the show you put on Jura. I just hope your punishment is light for trashing up our street." A jolly and happy voice can be heard from behind Jura. He turned and smiled.

"I apologize Master Makarov. I was given a mission on false pretenses. I'll be happy to pay for the damages." Jura stated as a old, short man came into Kumie's view looking down at Kumie eyes wide at the state of her body then looked at Sanit.

Makarov's face became somber suddenly. "You will need more than money to make up for what has occurred here… Then again, it isn't your fault to begin with."

Kumie rose an eyebrow it seemed that Makarov knew the truth and observed from the beginning but didn't intervene, "Jura didn't… Do anything."

"Quiet Kumie-dono. Focus on resting, I appreciate your sentiment. But I dishonorably and blindly followed a request without considering other factors." Jure stated then looked at Sanit. "And Sanit… I apologize for hurting you so much… I wish I listened sooner."

Makarov observed Jura then the other two before sighing then smiling. "Alright kids. No more apologizing it's all over now. Whats done is done…" Makarov stated then glared up at a rooftop pointing to it and a sudden bolt of light is fired. It surprised Jura for a moment, but he soon realized that since this mission was focused on these two for other reasons. Someone was watching them.

"Master Makarov, can we take shelter in your guild? These two need-" Jura began but was stopped by Makarov.

Makarov sighed. "I am not that cruel Jura… You didn't even need to ask." He then eyed Kumie silently who looked back then the old man smiled. "I understand that your goal was to come to my guild, right?"

Kumie was surprised Makarov knew that much but before she could say anything, she was picked up Jura with Makarov stepping to the side and then waving toward the guild houses. The pillars that were there before were gone now and she could see various people running over. Kumie was wondering if they were all observing what was going on but decided against the thought as Makarov drew her attention again.

Makarov smiled at her with a big grin. "Welcome to Fairy Tail!"

Kumie stared at the guild that was in the distance before she smiled softly. Whatever nightmare she had, was gone for now. That was enough for her, she and Sanit made it.

* * *

**Hey guys! I hope you don't see Jura in a bad light after all of this. I tried to make so his actions made sense while trying to not break his core of being Honorable.**

**I don't know if I did him justice enough. But I feel glad to have done it anyways.**

**The process of making this chapter was weird though, I was going to focus on the Taikoku stuff. But I figured reaching Magnolia and doing this was nicer, and it flows better.**

**I will also say this ends the short but simple Awakening Arc. We will be moving onto Meeting Fairy Tail on the next chapter!**

**Either way I hope you enjoyed this chapter. Please leave a review or comment I would appreciate your thoughts!**


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